Shipwrecked
by Beelzebubfan01
Summary: Margulis and chaos get shipwrecked on an uninhabited planet. Will they be able to work together to get off planet? Margulis' POV
1. Chapter 1

Xenosaga; Shipwrecked

*Thank you very much for reading this! I know it's a very strange scenario with two characters you'd never expect to meet and interact. I enjoyed writing this, and I hope you enjoyed reading!

* * *

Where was he? The dust around him was settling as he came to, a great pain in his left arm. He looked around quickly, wreckage surrounding him, metal and walls warped all around him, most half-melted. Kicking the door compartment open, he was greeted by sunlight hitting his face. What he saw confirmed what he thought. He was now on a planet.

Recalling how he got there, he was in a battle in-space above the planet Rein. It was a strategic spot to claim to prevent the Federation from creating a launching point for more attacks against the Immigrant Fleet's planets. The Kukai Foundation, or Helmer's dogs as he liked to describe them, had been sent into this battle to disable their main weapon. It was a new prototype canon that they had constructed to pierce the outer shield of the newly built Vector Warships. It worked beautifully, but the ship it was on was not meant for close combat, as it was more far-ranged.

The Kukai members were able to board with ease with use of a small carrier, and then their ES Craft to bulldoze their way inside the ship. Luckily they had to dismount in order to disable the actual weapon stations. He had setup the shutoff system himself, and knew this would require the group to split-up, multiple times. Not only that, but he had brought some of his best men along to help protect some of the sectors. He had been receiving reports though, that the Kukai members were being quite successful in defeating them, even due to their best efforts.

He was upset that not even his own men were good enough to hold them off. "I guess I'll just have to do this myself." He thought as he went to guard one of the remaining points himself. If this last sector went, the ship would be disabled and pulled in by the planet's gravity. "Whoever they sent is on a suicide mission." He knew.

He was greeted by only one member of the Kukai Foundation, a white-haired boy he had seen on a few occasions prior. He had no quarrels with him, but knew he could fight well in hand-to-hand combat. They began their fight without so much as a word, as the boy seemed to be set on completing his mission. He was quite surprised how well the boy was able to fight against him. Normally his battles ended without so much as a challenge, but he was quite pleased to have a chance to fight someone well trained. He knew he needed to end this though, and was about to make his finishing move. The boy seemed to realize there was no chance of him winning, and did something he was not expecting. The boy summoned a great amount of energy in and around him, and sent out a huge blast of ice ether all across the room.

He cursed under his breath as he was able to shield himself from the incoming blast, but not the controls and chamber behind him. Everything began to freeze over, and he cursed again as he saw the readouts begin to malfunction. He quickly pressed a few buttons on the machine, as he was not going to let the Federation have this new prototype weapon. The ship itself began to explode around them, and the next sensation he felt was falling.

* * *

He looked up at the sun, and the debris of the ship around him. Somehow he had survived the exploding ship, and the crash landing on the planet almost unharmed, save for his now obvious broken arm. He heard some noises of grunting coming not far from him, but a little higher up in the wreckage.

"Perhaps someone else survived?" He thought as he began climbing up and out of the wreckage he was in. It didn't take him long to climb up and find who he was looking for. The white haired Kukai boy he had been fighting before was trying to push a piece of debris that had fallen across the back of his leg. His struggle looked in vain though, as one of his arms was also pinned by more wreckage. The boy stopped his struggle as he came into his view. The boy looked him up and down, seeming to determine if he was a threat or not.

"You seem to have found yourself in quite a predicament." He couldn't help but smile and think that this was great payback for what he had done just prior. "You can't lift that, can you?" He put his hand on the piece that was currently pinning his leg.

"No…" The boy said, sounding slightly pained, but not dropping his gaze. "Truce?"

This caused him to raise an eyebrow. He turned and looked at his surrounding. It didn't appear that anyone else was alive in their near proximity. If they were the only ones to survive the crash, he may be the only assistance he would have. Besides, he knew he was stronger than this boy. He could just kill him off later if he didn't become useful.

"Alright, truce, for now." He said, as he looked at the piece that was pinning the boy, and slowly began to lift it with his good arm. It was heavy, but he was able to raise it a few inches, giving the boy enough leverage to push his now obviously crushed leg out. They then set to work freeing his other arm, which didn't take much time.

"Thank you." The boy said as he then immediately began healing his broken bones with a healing ether power. His arm was healed quickly, but his leg, which had been shattered quite well, took a very long time to heal. While the boy did that, he took it upon himself to look around the wreckage for possibly other survivors. He found no one, well…at least no one that was whole and alive. He had found some provisions. A med kit, which he used to help patch his own arm, but not enough to mend it, some emergency food supplies, and water.

He brought these all back to where the boy was, and thankfully the boy appeared to be almost done healing himself. The boy looked up at him as he began setting down all the things he found.

"Would you like me to heal your arm?" The boy asked.

"Why would you do that?" He asked him, eyeing him warily.

"Well, we are in a truce, and that does look painful." The boy eyed the wound, looking like he wanted to reach out and inspect it further, but caught himself before doing so. "I don't mind."

"Alright." He held out his arm to let the boy do so. He didn't like the idea of being helped by the enemy, but if it would speed things along and make him fully capable again, it would give him the advantage once again. The boy held out his hand, and the healing ether was very potent and strong, healing the break quite quickly. He was impressed by the boys healing and ether power. With all the ether he had used, most people would have been completely drained a long time ago. He seemed to be barely fazed by it all.

"All finished. You should be fine now Margulis." The boy said, inspected his handiwork, his fingers almost ghost-touching the spot where the break once was. He frowned, as the boy obviously knew who he was, as that would put him at a slight disadvantage.

"And what do they call you?" Margulis asked, trying to remember what he did know about this boy.

"Chaos. They just call me chaos." Chaos smiled and nodded at him.

"Very well." Margulis stood up and began handing him the supplies.

"There is no one near here that appears alive. Let us head South. There is another part of the ship I saw there. If your leg his healed."

"I should be fine. We should find a way to try to get off this planet. I don't believe there are any ports or settlements on it." Chaos pointed out, while grabbing some supplies for himself, putting them in the pockets all throughout his outfit.

"We look for survivors first. The more help we have, the better our odds." Margulis instructed. Chaos nodded at this, but didn't say anything else.


	2. Chapter 2-1

They had been walking a few minutes, chaos had shown signs his leg was not fully back to full strength, as he stumbled slightly while jumping over a pile a debris. His knee buckled, and Margulis caught him before he plowed into him.

"Sorry…" chaos responded as he righted himself, and sent a healing stream down his leg. "There is very few electrolytes in the leg itself. It will have to heal more naturally."

"Naturally. Healing ether can only do so much for you." Margulis commented as he side-glanced chaos' progress. He took a step forward, and he felt the metal underneath him shift. He wasn't prepared as the section he was standing on began to give way.

"Watch out!" chaos shouted as he pushed Margulis aside, onto a pile of metal pillars. Chaos though, stumbled forward, and ended up falling with the pile of debris down a good ten feet. Margulis, was stunned only a moment, and got up to see how chaos had fared from the fall. He started climbing down before he could see him, as the dust hadn't cleared yet. Able to jump down quickly, he started making his way over to where he thought chaos would be. Sure enough, he heard coughing close by, and once the dust had settled, he saw chaos laying face-down in the rubble. Chaos had pushed himself up slightly to breath better, covering his mouth so he didn't have to breath in all the dust around him. Chaos shifted, in obvious pain from the fall.

"Are you alright?" Margulis asked, as he looked chaos over for any obvious breaks.

"I'm fine…" chaos said as he turned himself over with a painful grunt. "Just bruised."

"Why did you do that?" Margulis asked, taking chaos by the shoulder, and semi-dragging him out of the debris and onto his feet.

"I…thanks." Chaos said as he cleared the rubble and up onto his feet, "I was just reacting on instinct, I suppose." He brought his hand up and rubbed the back of his neck. Margulis thought it weird that someone who had just tried to kill him not long ago had just saved him from a nasty fall.

"Hmph. I don't think they teach heroism like that in the Miltian Army." Margulis commented as they began their treck back down the mountain.

"I was in Special Forces. We did things a little differently." Chaos said with a sad smile.

"Are you still in the military?" Margulis asked, thinking it was odd that a military person was working directly with the Kukai Foundation.

"Oh no. I retired about five years ago. I just work as private ship security officer now." Chaos said matter of factly.

"Hmph! Does private security cover breaking in and destroying prototypes of secret military equipment?" Margulis asked with a sneer.

"Well…I guess not." Chaos frowned a little at that, trying to think of a good answer. They walked in silence for a little while, chaos seemed to have not thought of a good answer, or perhaps he just didn't want to answer. Margulis was fine with the silence. Picking out the best path they should take around the wreckage.


	3. Chapter 2-2

They had walked South to the wreckage Margulis had saw. It had taken them a little while to get to, as where they had landed was on a steep side of a mountain. The wreckage was almost directly underneath them, and they had to find a way through the side of the mountain to get down there. Of course, a lot of it required them just jumping down steep ledges, and for chaos, this had become incredibly difficult with his injured leg. Margulis was impressed by how much the other didn't complain, but seemed to take his handicap in stride, finding inventive ways to get down and not asking for Margulis' assistance too much.

It did slow their progress down quite a bit though. And the light was already fading by the time they had made it to the beginning of the wreckage. They decided to sleep under an overhanging but sturdy piece of the wreckage. They decided to take turns at watch, as they had heard the sounds of wild animals. Margulis allowed chaos to sleep first, as he was in a lot worse shape than himself. Besides, he didn't know he could sleep all that well with a potential enemy so close. They had been trying to kill each other earlier that day.

Nothing had happened on his watch, minus what looked like an equivalent of a small rodent poke its head out, and then quickly scurried away. The night was not very cold, so there was no need for them to create a fire or any light. It was quite dark, and when Margulis checked his computer, he noted it had been a good 4 hours, he woke chaos up. Chaos' movements were stiff, but he got up without any verbal protests, and took watch. Margulis laid down, but as he expected, he had a hard time falling asleep. He did rest his head though, and just listened to the sounds around him. After a couple hours, he found himself drifting off here and there, but was always awakened by the sounds of animals and rustling. He looked over a few times to see chaos watching diligently around them.

Once morning began to break, he got up and stretched out. Chaos had already opened one of the food packs he had found the day prior and was taking small bites of it. Margulis thought it was not a bad idea to eat himself as he grabbed a food pack from his pouch. He ate it rather quickly, and stood up to begin scouting the area. There was a rather pecular sounding noise of metal sliding as he began to step out.

"Watch out!" chaos raised his hands, and a very powerful ether shield was created above him. Margulis took a step back, as he looked up and saw a very large piece of debris hit the ether shield, bouncing and sliding off the side, landing a few feet infront of them. The piece was heavy, and made the ground shake when it landed. Chaos lowered his hands, and the shield dropped.

"That was the second time you've done something like that." Margulis looked over at him. "Do you enjoy saving your enemies?"

"It's just my natural reaction…" chaos sounded like he wanted to apologies, but didn't. Instead he just rubbed the back of his neck. Margulis turned and looked above them to make sure nothing else was going to come down from the wreckage they had left the day before. He didn't hear any more grating metal, so he walked out, and ontop of the pieces that had just fallen to survey the area. Chaos waited at the bottom of the wreckage, stretching out his legs, and then began walking around the wreckage.

"Where shall we start searching?" chaos asked. Margulis frowned, as they hadn't heard anyone at all throughout the night, so the chances of them finding someone alive down here felt slim. They still had to try though.

"Let's head to the center and circle from there." Margulis jumped off his rubble onto another that was much closer to the center, and a way to get into the wreckage below. Chaos didn't try to follow, but found a door he was able to push open, and they both went inside, going their separate ways.


	4. Chapter 3

By midday they hadn't found any others still alive. The only bodies they found were those of Margulis' forces. He looked over at them, but didn't feel particularly mournful over them. He knew they died for their just cause.

"I didn't find anyone on the North side." Chaos said as they met up at a cross section to the West. Margulis didn't know if he should take chaos' word, but he also thought chaos didn't seem like the kind to leave anyone found alive in a dire situation.

"I don't see any of your friends." Margulis commented, as he realized he hadn't seen any other Kukai members among the dead.

"I am thankful for that." Chaos nodded and with a sad smile. "All of them should have been able to evacuate before…" chaos trailed off.

"Before the explosion." Margulis said, in a flat tone. "So they did know you wouldn't return."

"It wasn't planned that way but…" chaos looked down, a slight frown on his face, "Things weren't going quite as planned, and there wasn't a way for all of us to escape at that point. I volunteered to stay behind and continue the mission." Chaos paused a moment, then looked up, and gave a sad smile, "Of course, I didn't give them much of a choice at that point. We were all separated."

"Hmph. How heroic." Margulis said sarcastically, looking at the next corridor they had to search. "Though, that does seem like something you would do."

"You are too kind." Chaos said a little sarcastically as well. "Shall we?" He motioned towards the corridor Margulis was looking down. "I believe this is the last place to check."

"Lets go." Margulis and took the lead as they made their way down the last corridor. If Margulis' memory served, this path would take them to the main engine room. It seemed possible that if there were any survivors, that they would be here, as this was the biggest room with the most staff. The door didn't move at all when they tried to push against it. Chaos nodded and used a powerful aura spell to knock it open. As it opened though, they were blinded with light coming through the door. Once their eyes adjusted, Margulis stepped through, and both of them were outside again. There was no evidence of the engine room being there, just sunlight and trees.

Chaos didn't say anything as he stepped through the door as well, looking at their surroundings. Margulis was thinking that he really was possibly the only survivor of the crash. How he only survived with a broken arm was a mystery even to him. He thought it may have been because of where they were located on the ship, but even then…

"What would you like to do now?" chaos asked quietly behind him, almost like he knew what Margulis was thinking. Margulis looked around their surroundings once more before he spoke.

"We need to find a way to communicate off-planet. Let them know there were survivors." Margulis said, but even as he said that, he knew that once his forces defeated the Federation, they would be gone and onto another quadrant. But…if somehow the Federation had won, he didn't know if they would stick around, or if he should even try to let them know he was down there. The only thing that would happen was for him to become captured.

"Alright." Chaos nodded his head, but then added, "We should find an emergency craft that may have been attached to the main ship. That way we can get off planet ourselves."

"Easier said than done." Margulis frowned, as he turned to look at the wreckage behind him. There were very few things that had made it in one piece, and an emergency vehicle in any shape would be difficult to find.

"Well, when I was searching, I did notice another part of the ship West of here. It looked like there were some craft scattered ar—."

"Why did you not mention this before?" Margulis asked quite critically, narrowing his eyes.

"I thought I would mention it after we were finished here. I didn't think it was that important, as it is a pretty small section." Chaos looked a little confused, but took it in stride.

"Hmph. You will need to speak up sooner." Margulis said, but realizing that chaos wasn't one of his soldiers to boss around. Chaos just tilted his head slightly and gave a small grin.

"Alright, if I must." Chaos said in a slightly joking manner. "Shall we head there then?"

"Yes. Proceed." Margulis nodded at chaos, and in turn, chaos pointed in the direction, and they started heading into the woods.


	5. Chapter 4

"This…appears mostly intact." Chaos had gone inside and under some hard wiring panels, "It needs some repair, but with the other ships around, we should be able to retrieve the correct parts."

"That's promising." Margulis was looking at a console, looking at the damage reports the ship was generating. "Unlike the other ships, this one doesn't appear to have any hull damage."

"That is ideal. We don't have the tools to repair the hull." Chaos pulled himself out from under the console. He got up and looked over Margulis' shoulder to look at the reports. They scrolled through quite a few lists, and chaos frowned slightly, "This will take us a long while to fix."

"We'll have to assume the beacon we set up will attract someone sooner than it will take to repair this then." Margulis said, also wondering how long it would take for the two of them to make the necessary repairs. "In the meantime, we will just act like we will not receive any aid and must escape ourselves."

"Alright. That seems like a good plan." Chaos said as he began pressing buttons on a console next to Margulis, making a list of all the items they will need to start repairs on the main control room there, and to the engines. "I'll start with repairs to the engine, if you would like to take this main room."

"That would work best. I am more familiar with repairing the components here." Magulis commented as he looked over at what chaos had compiled.

"Would you like to come and take a look at the engine as well? There may be a case where you may need to work on it." Chaos recommended.

"Alright." Margulis nodded and they both headed out of the main cabin and down a corridor to the engine room.

"Hey Margulis…" chaos asked as they made it into the main room.

"Speak." Margulis said, again realizing that chaos wasn't one of his officers. This caused chaos to chuckle slightly, but he cleared his voice again, obviously leading to a serious question.

"If we do escape, what will we do?" chaos asked, his hands behind his back.

"Elaborate."

"Well once we get into space, where shall we head?" chaos asked again.

"…" Margulis knew exactly what chaos was thinking. He himself was worried about being caught by the Federation, but if chaos went with him back to the Immigrant Fleet, chaos would become a prisoner of war.

"You do know what will happen if either of us is captured." Chaos said, looking none too happy thinking of what his fate would be.

"We will go with whichever side we find first then." Margulis said slowly. "One of them must have won this territory, so it should be a simple matter of relaying our coordinates and finding one with their forces near."

"Even if its not to your advantage?" chaos looked a little skeptical.

"Heh? You doubt my words? I guess I don't blame you." Margulis sneered. "No, I do have the higher advantage in the matter. I doubt even if captured by the Federation, they wouldn't be able to do much to me."

"I am sure you will be treated well, or at least better than most." Chaos nodded his head. "Alright."

"Do you not fear for your own safety? What if we find my fleet waiting for us?" Margulis' eyes narrowed.

"Well…there are always the prisoner pills I guess." Chaos said quietly, but gave Margulis a serious nod. This caused Margulis to frown.

"There is always that way out."


	6. Chapter 5

They had been working in peace for a few days now. They had seen little of each other, as they had been working in their own respective areas. Once night hit though, they would meet up in the living quarters, eat a little, chat, and rest. Margulis tended to wake up much sooner than chaos, and would take the opportunity to use the shower first. On the third day they were there, Margulis noted that chaos was still sleeping when he came out.

"What? Still sleeping?" Margulis sneered as he walked over and crossed his arms.

"Hrmph…" chaos rolled over onto his back and looked up at Margulis. "Is it really time?"

"Ah, seven-hundred hours. I believe that is normal waking hours." Margulis finished putting on his gloves. "You do really like to sleep."

"Mmmhmm," chaos sat up and stretched. "I need to make up for all the hours you've missed."

"…" Margulis looked surprised a moment, not sure what to say. It had been true, he had not been sleeping well the past few days. He didn't think chaos had noticed, as he seemed to be sleeping quite soundly. "I don't sleep well around enemies."

"Keeping one eye open?" chaos questioned, but didn't seem to want an answer, as he grabbed his own towel and headed to the shower. "I hope you'll be able to sleep better. If you'd like, we can find separate quarters, or perhaps sleep at different times?"

"That won't be necessary. Don't trouble yourself. It's best you are in a place I can keep an eye on you." Margulis frowned and headed out of the room. He didn't like how comfortable chaos seemed around him. He thought perhaps chaos knew he could take him out at anytime, regardless if he was asleep or awake. Deep down though, he knew that wasn't the reason.

"He's just too trustful." Margulis thought as he made it back to the control room, "and yet…he's saved my life twice." He knew having the debt of having his life saved was pretty important to him. He knew he would have to repay chaos, but as they were now, and his position, he didn't know if he could save chaos even if they were to go back to the Immigrant Fleet. Heinlein would determine chaos' fate, and he didn't think Heinlein would be all too forgiving. Not only that, but chaos has mentioned the 'Prisoner Pill' a few days back. Basically a suicide capsule that prisoners could take to kill them off from interrogation and torture, they were generally used when there was a high chance of capture during a mission. They had found a hospital room in the wreckage on their first day, and Margulis didn't see chaos take any of the medicine there, but he knew it would be unwise to assume such. It was quite possible chaos had already one on his person as well.

He sighed in frustration as he got to the control room, and the list of repairs beamed back up at him. He still had some time to think things over though. Perhaps he would be able to convince chaos otherwise.


	7. Chapter 6

*Haha, please ignore my badly google translated latin. Apologies to anyone who actually knows latin! Also shout-out to Gnosism, what Xenosaga is heavily based on. I have loved studying and researching all the lore behind the Xenosaga universe. There is no end of things to discover~!

* * *

"Oh, so you actually do know something of our religious beliefs." Margulis looked up from some religious documents he was reading. "And here I thought all of you Federation dogs were all heathens."

"Not all of us…I think somewhere to half the population within the Federation still follows the Christian Faith in some form." Chaos said as he sat in the chair across the table in their sleeping quarters. "Though, I'm sure most don't quite follow under Ormus' beliefs these days."

"I highly doubt they would, as your Federation is quite good with their propaganda against us." Margulis went back to scanning the documents. "What do you follow I wonder?"

"Hehe, well…perhaps you have heard of it." Chaos gave him a playful grin. Margulis immediately turned and frowned. Was chaos really questioning his religious knowledge?

"I think my beliefs most line up with Gnosistic beliefs, an old sect that started around 100 ADE. Though the old Judaic arcs are not to be dismissed as well."

"That is quite old. How would you even come across scripts from that day and age? At the very least, they would only be written in Aramaic, and possibly Latin if enough people took interest."

"Haha, well…I am versed in Aramaic and Latin, so that wasn't a problem." Chaos smiled. "I have spent a lot of time reading through the religious archives."

"Funny. Are you just good at languages, or you just boasting for knowing a few words?" Margulis sneered.

" _Linguis loquar copiose. Si vos manseritis in sermone te malim esse volumus._ (I can speak the languages fluently. If you wish we can continue in a language you'd prefer.)" chaos responded, smiling slightly. Margulis raised his eyebrows in surprise. He wasn't expecting that.

" _Quam non habent, sed potius communi lingua. Nisi etiam de religione nostra lingua originali textu._ (I don't have a preference, though common tongue would be preferable. Unless we're actually talking about a religious text in its original dialect.)" Margulis responded, it being a few years since he had to spoken Latin.

"That's fine then. English is one of the oldest languages anyways." Chaos smiled and looked over at the text Margulis was reading. "That wouldn't be one of the newer writings, would it? That doesn't look familiar."

"I guess if 200 years ago is old, then yes." Margulis said off-handedly. "How old are you, anyways? I assume you must be older than you look, if you were a Special Forces officer, and retired five years ago."

"Hehe well…" chaos laughed nervously, rubbing his neck again, "I'm definitely older than I look. I think when you find my records, you'll find I was in the Miltian regular army for 20 years, and then Special Forces for about 30 more."

"Then the answer is 'quite old'." Margulis was surprised by how old chaos was supposedly. By Margulis' calculation, he would have to be 75+ years old to have grown up and served that long. He had served in the military longer than he had been alive. "You certainly don't act your age."

"How so?" chaos tilted his head.

"Hmph!" Margulis thought that mannerism of rubbing his neck and the looks he gave him made him seem young, but not just that… "Perhaps it's because you don't give long lectures, drink constantly, and blubber about the old days."

Chaos smiled at the remarks. "No, I guess I don't…Most people become uncomfortable once they realize how old I am, so I tend not to mention it, is all." Chaos paused a moment, then leaned over to look at the text more. "What is a 'home-on banter'?"

"It's…" Margulis spent the next hour explaining about the current text he was reading. It was something he had picked up just to keep himself fresh on his religious teaching and upbringing. This particular book was written to express how one should raise a proper religious family, and how to go about certain teachings. Chaos seemed interested, and asked a lot of questions, mostly relating back to how their religion used to be over 500 years ago, before the Immigrant Fleet began militarizing.

'You know, this boy really has a head on his shoulder. Such a shame he works for the Federation." Margulis thought as they finished and headed to bed for the night.


	8. Chapter 7

_He was onboard his ship. The Ormus Flagship. He was walking down the halls down to the_ _'interrogation' chambers. He walked into the first room where a bunch of monitors were and scientists were observing videos and read-outs. He grinned as he saw the readouts on the screen. They had done a lot of tests._

" _How is he?" He asked with a sneer. Taking a look through the one-way glass._

" _Uhhh…alive?" The Head Scientist said, "Perhaps a rest is in order."_

" _Hmph…" Margulis walked out into the other room, a few scientists were doing some reading on the patient, the other sticking another needle in their arm. There were tubes sticking out of the subject, almost like he was a pin-cushion. Their eyes were covered by a mask used for taking measurements of brain activity. Taking it off, the subject looked up at him, his face completely exhausted and twisted slightly in pain._

" _Enjoying yourself?" Margulis gave an evil grin and almost spit out his words. The subject looked at him with imploring eyes, and then dropped his gaze down. Taking a look at a rather large tube that was protruding from the subject's neck, his grinned widened, and he reached out, and quickly and violently twisted around and out. The subject gave a shriek of pain…_

* * *

Margulis woke up with a start, the scream still reverberating in his ears. He spent a few moments catching his breath, but the feeling of the evil satisfaction he had been feeling a moment before had turned to utter disgust. He sat up and looked over at the bed across the way, and chaos looked like he was sleeping soundly. Margulis, tilted his head slightly, and then stood up and walked a little closer to chaos, tilting his body slightly to the side, looking at chaos' face. A slight chill went up his spline. The subject from his dream had been chaos. He hadn't recognized him at the time because of the mangled hair and gaunt face with the twisted features.

He stood up straight and went to go take his morning shower. This was the first dream he remembered having since they had crash landed here. They had been working about two weeks, and perhaps he was getting used to chaos' presence, so the fact he was starting to experience dreaming meant he was going into a deeper sleep. This dream felt so real though…It felt like it was something that could happen, something he may feel depending on who his enemy was. The fact he was feeling that way about chaos though…the boy had done nothing to upset him or make him feel he needed or deserved that sort of treatment.

Once he finished his shower, he got dressed and headed back out. Chaos was already up and getting dressed. Margulis paused and watched him a moment, frowning and remembering the dream. He looked over chaos and at the spots the tubes would be coming out of him. Obviously there weren't any markings on his body, but that wasn't helping the unease he was feeling.

"Is everything alright?" chaos had turned around and was looking at him with a look of concern.

"Nothing to concern yourself with." Margulis responded and turned to go to the control room. "You better be getting your work done."

"Yes sir." Chaos answered respectfully as he finished pulling on his jacket.


	9. Chapter 8

Margulis was working steadily to repair a few control boards that were not functioning correctly. The external censors on the bow had not worked and Margulis had finally found the problem was due to burnt out components in the chording between the control room and the censors itself. He had gone over to the other ruined escape shuttles to get the parts he needed. He was just about to get started when he heard a large booming sound and the entire ship shook. It didn't feel like the few times debris from the main ship fell down the mountain. This felt much closer, possibly inside the ship.

He stood up and was about to press the intercom system to call to the engine room, but he suddenly had a bad feeling in his gut. He headed down to the engine room and immediately entered and looked around. He didn't see chaos and walked in to look around.

"Chaos!" he shouted once. It wasn't like chaos to leave the ship without telling him first. He heard a tapping noise off to his left. Heading over there, he noticed about 6 large bar beams, used to help support the engine drive in case of an engine breach, had all fallen over and around a repair tube. He heard the tapping again, and it sounded deliberate. Margulis tried to move a beam, but found it was too heavy by himself. Summoning some ether, he blasted it with a strong fire ether spell, and that moved three of the bars a few feet across the floor. This gave him room to look a little into the repair tube.

"Chaos, are you there?" Margulis' voice reverberated off the walls. He heard a wheezing noise coming from inside, and heard slight movement. He took that as a sign he was there. He was able to physically push another beam down and off. The last two bars looked difficult. One had fallen just to the entrance, and the other looked like it was inside the tube itself. Taking a look at how the beam was positioned, he couldn't move it easily, even with ether. Drawing his sword, he summoned a very powerful attack, and pinpointed a good leverage point. The first hit cracked the beam, but a second hit split it.

He pushed one piece out of the way, and then he moved instinctively backwards as a large blast of ice ether moved the other half of the bar. It smashed to the floor, and Margulis heard the wheezing again. He was finally able to get a good enough view inside to see that chaos was trapped on his back, but he was bent the wrong way in a very unnatural position. There was no doubt his back was broken by that angle.

"Can you move?" Margulis asked as chaos moved his head to look him. Chaos' eyes looked clouded and confused, but nodded his head yes. "I'm going to cut this bar as far as I can, and then lift up the rest. I want you to get out of the tunnel while I do this. Understood?" chaos looked like he was trying to process the information, but after a few seconds nodded his head. Margulis took his head out of the tunnel and stood up straight, trying to position himself the best so he could break the beam as much as possible. He didn't want the ether blow to shake the beam and hurt chaos further, so focusing a very powerful blast, he drew his sword once more and hit it as hard as he could. The beam splintered easily. Margulis pushed the first part of the beam out of the tube. Finally able to climb in, he positioned himself so he could lift the pillar.

"Ready?" Margulis said. Chaos had closed his eyes and was motionless. "Hey! We're not done yet!" Margulis yelled at him. This seemed to startle chaos as he shook suddenly and looked up. Chaos nodded at him once he realized what was going on. Margulis lifted the beam up off chaos. It was heavy, and he didn't know how long he could keep it up. "Move!" He yelled in a very strained voice.

Chaos had grunted in pain when the beam had been lifted off of him, and he struggled to turn over on his stomach, having to use his arms to flip his legs over. He seemed to shudder due to the pain, but then slightly adjusted towards the entrance of the tube. He started army crawling out of the tube. Margulis wished he would go faster, but chaos seemed to be struggling greatly as-is. Eventually chaos passed him, and unceremoniously fell out of the tube and onto the grate below. Margulis dropped the beam. It rang very loudly as it landed and reverberated off the walls. He hadn't realized it, but he was breathing quite heavily and he was quite exhausted. He didn't have much time to think about it though. He had turned around, and jumped out of the tube, kneeling down besides chaos, who was lying quite motionless on the grate.

Chaos was lying on his back, eyes closed and very ragged breathing. Margulis weighed his optioned, and stood up and went over and grabbed a medkit from the emergency supply near the entrance of the room. He brought the medkit over and injected it into chaos. Chaos' breathing started to even out within the first minute, and he began to regain consciousness after the second. Margulis had already brought his computer out and was scanning chaos. He was beginning to feel frustrated, as the scan wasn't picking up a lot of chaos' vitals and normal readings.

"The normal scans don't work well on me." Chaos whispered as he opened his eyes and focused on Margulis.

"So I noticed." Margulis frowned as he turned off his computer in frustration. "Alright, how do you feel then?"

"Not…so well." Chaos answered truthfully. "My vertebrae is broken. My legs are numb, because of it, probably."

"Your back looked broken when I found you. Can you heal it?" Margulis asked, wondering just how powerful chaos' healing ether was.

"I can, but it needs to be aligned properly for me to do so." Chaos said, using one hand to attempt to feel along his back, and flinched slightly when he found the broken part. "It's…not aligned right now."

"Well, this will hurt you more than me." Margulis said as he placed his computer down. "This will be much easier if you are on your stomach. I will flip you over, sooner we get you mobile, the better." Chaos looked a little worried, knowing what was coming, but he nodded his head. Margulis positioned his arm just below chaos' knees, and the other on chaos' lower back. Chaos positioned his arms so he could push his upper body over. Chaos nodded when he was ready, and Margulis flipped him over. Chaos gasped slightly, and his body spasmed slightly once he was fully turned over, but after a few moments he began to calm down.

"The medkit appears to be still functioning properly." Margulis observed, but as good measure, gave chaos another injection to help with quicker healing.

"Thank you." Chaos said as he felt the medkit's effects begin to kick-in. Margulis picked up his computer, and focused a skeletal scan on chaos' back. To Margulis' chagrin, the scan actually worked and he was able to see the break. The break seemed very clean. Most likely due to the bar's weight creating a clean snap.

"I'm going to try and realign it. It's not far off currently. How close will you need it to heal?" Margulis had not been trained in the art of healing. He had no reason to be.

"If you want me to walk again, as close as you can." Chaos said in a slightly joking manner. "I will need an almost perfect alignment though."

"Well lets hope the computer gives me correct readings." Margulis said. "Alright, I'm going to begin movement."


	10. Chapter 9

Once he had helped chaos realign his spline, chaos had begun healing immediately. It was strange to feel the healing aura that surrounded his hands and arms as the healing pulse surrounded him as he continued to hold the fracture in place. It felt nice, as if the healing energy was piercing through his own bones and to his own ether stream. It took a solid 30 minutes, but Margulis was a little saddened as chaos' healing ether began to fade. They had tested to see if chaos had any feelings in his legs, and to chaos' relief, he was able to feel them and move them slightly.

chaos was still in incredible amounts of paint though, and Margulis had to piggy-back him back to the sleeping quarters. Chaos had taken off the top of his body suit, and had laid down on his stomach. Margulis now able to see chaos' back saw it was now a giant bruise, some of it almost completely black. Margulis had gone to the emergency supply and found some medical equipment that he could use. Reading one in particular, he found a medical device that was specifically made to help with broken bones and reconnect nerves. Once he returned, chaos had already fallen asleep, his breathing had finally started evening out.

He had spent a few extra minutes setting up the device, having the readings go to his computer to help him. He was not familiar at all with this sort of care. If this had been anywhere else, he would have just had one of his men take care of this. He gave a sigh in frustration as he tried to scan chaos again, but it was again not functioning properly.

"It only works when chaos wants it to." Margulis thought as he positioned the device just above the break. The device activated, and finally readings began to show on Margulis' computer. It was showing many broken nerve ends that had not connected properly during chaos' healing. He positioned the machine at the first batch of nerves, and let the machine repair them.

Chaos jump slightly as the nerves were marked on Margulis' computer as reconnected. Chaos turned his head, his eyes looked tired and slightly pained.

"You didn't do a good job. There is still a lot of work to be done." Margulis commented as he repositioned the device and moved to another batch of nerves. Chaos twitched again as the nerves were reconnected. "Does that hurt or something? Quit moving."

"Sorry." Chaos lay his head back on the pillow, "It does hurt, but manageable."

"You are a pain in the ass. You know that?" Margulis commented as he moved the device again. "How did those bars fall inside the tube?"

"I'm…not quite sure." Chaos said quietly. "I was sealing a fuel tube, the one I told you would cause us problems once we hit space. I remember the bars leaning against the wall just outside the tube itself."

"Are you saying they just fell? Why would you position them so precariously?" Margulis asked, though he already had an idea of the answer he would receive.

"Well, they may have been loosened by the crash. I never looked at them." Chaos admitted, and twitched a little as the device reconnected some more nerves.

"Do not move." Margulis said again. The conversation lulled, and only after a few minutes chaos drifted off again. Margulis continued working until he found himself starting to drift off himself. He knew there were still many hours of healing left to do. He needed the rest though, and he put the device down on chaos' stand that was located next to his cot. Margulis fell on his cot unceremoniously, not even removing his coat, he drifted off quickly into sleep.

—

 _He was standing in the cargo bay that housed the E.S. units. He was looking up at his own unit Levi as the scientist had setup a test for the subject. He had felt extremely pleased with the results the scientists had presented him with, and had given them the go ahead to continue with their line of experimentation. They had noticed a significant relation in the way the subject reacted and that of the Vessels of Anima, used to power their E.S. units. They had hooked the subject up to a machine, his body almost completely hidden and covered in machines and tubes._

" _We are ready to begin." The head scientist had come over to him._

" _Go ahead" Margulis said, a smile appearing on his face as he stepped over to the main console with the readouts._

" _Beginning Phase 1." The head scientist said as he pressed a few buttons. The machines started to hum as the subject began to emanate a strange light. The subject made a strangled noise, and then a pained groan. Margulis then walked over to the subject, and peered down at him._

" _Shut it. You are making a scene. Be a good boy." Margulis said as the light around the subject began glowing brighter._

" _Beginning Phase 2." He heard the scientist say behind him. The subject's face scrunched up in obvious pain, as he tried to fight the effects of the machine._

 _Margulis heard metal moving, and he looked up at E.S. Levi. It had begun to move slightly, and he noticed a light slightly glowing where the Vessel of Anima had been inserted into it. The head of Levi moved and looked down at where they were, and it_ _'s arm moved slightly, but nothing else._

" _So. You do have the power to manipulate the Vessels of Anima." Margulis sneered down at the subject. "I want to test this more fully. This could be extremely useful to us."_


	11. Chapter 10

It had been a few days since he had found chaos buried under all the bars. Chaos had most of the nerve damage repaired, but he still needed to let his body recuperate. He had been resting in the sleeping quarters, using the computer to go over specs and trying to figure out what to fix and how to do it. He had run a lot of data that needed to be done, and even did a lot of calculations of what it would take to get off-planet, as well as how far they would be able to travel once they got to space. Margulis was appreciative that chaos was doing the work he could, but he really wanted him to be out repairing the engines.

Margulis was continuing his repairs to the sensors around the ship. He sighed as he had found another batch of faulty sensors. He wondered if he would have to replace every single one of them on the ship. As he held his hand to his head, trying to get rid of the headache that was beginning to form, he heard muffled talking coming from the living quarters he walked passed to check on a sensor. He paused and listened, and he noticed chaos' voice, but then one of what sounded like a child.

Confused, he walked over and went into the living quarters. Looking around, all he saw was chaos laying there, working on number crunching again. He looked over at chaos and narrowed his eyes.

"What are you doing?" Margulis asked, chaos looked slightly confused.

"I'm running the numbers on the fuel output if we need to make it to the nearest outposts. Currently Peuron." Chaos answered.

"Were you speaking before I entered?" Margulis asked. He didn't want to play any games.

"Yes, I was." Chaos looked surprised, but then gave a small smile. "I'm sorry for disturbing you. I'll keep the talking to a minimum."

"Hmph." Margulis sneered slightly, knowing that wasn't the problem. "Talk all you want. Isn't it a little odd to be speaking to yourself?" He wanted to ask about the other voice, but decided to keep it to himself. The more he thought about it, the stranger it sounded. He waited a moment, and then left the room. He stood outside the room for a few moments, wondering if the voices would return. The room stayed silent, and he continued to walk towards the sensor.

"He is hiding something from me." Margulis thought. He wasn't surprised. He was an enemy.

—

"I didn't mean to put you at odds with him." Nephilem reappeared next to chaos as they heard the footsteps walk away.

"Don't worry. He may understand one day." Chaos responded. "If what you were saying is true, we are running out of time."


	12. Chapter 11

"Well, look who decided to come out of his room." Margulis turned and looked as chaos walked into the cabin of the ship. Chaos smiled and nodded, handing Margulis the computer. Margulis turned it on and did a quick review of the files chaos had added.

"Good work." Margulis shut off the computer and looked up at him. "The Engines are still in need of repairs. When will you have it done by?"

"Should only be a couple days. I was almost done before…well. I should be able to finish soon." Chaos said, stretching a bit.

"I won't hold my breath." Margulis answered. "If you need help with lifting, let me know."

"I should be fine. My back is about perfect thanks to your help." Chaos said very sincerely.

"Hmph. We don't need you aggravating anything and making this process any slower." Margulis scolded.

"Understood. I'll be careful." Chaos smiled. "Thank you for your concern."

"Get to work." Margulis turned to his console, obviously done with this conversation. He didn't feel…embarrassed. He just didn't feel the need for the formalities. He heard chaos leave the room and start walking, but he heard chaos shuffle and stop. He wondered what was up and he stood up and went out of the cabin. Chaos was only standing a few feet away, looking out the main door that lead outside.

Margulis shifted his positioned and looked out as well. All he could see was wreckage from the other ships and the woods off in the distance. He spent a moment looking, and after a few moments, he did begin feeling like something wasn't quite right.

"What is it?" He asked quietly, not sure what or where he should focus his attention.

"I'm…not sure." Chaos responded slowly, "I saw something in the tree line. It looked like it glowed, but faded quickly. The shape looked bipedal."

"…" Margulis didn't like the sound of that. "Shall we investigate?"

"If you wish. I think as long as it keeps its distance…we should be fine." Chaos answered, finally turning his attention back up to Margulis.

"I don't like it." Margulis answered. "Let us close this door. I will get the sensors online. We can track if anything gets close."

"Alright." Chaos went to the control panel, and the door closed. He looked up at Margulis. "You don't think it could be someone who survived?"

"No." Margulis said. He couldn't explain it, but he knew it wasn't one of his men. "If it is though, the sensors will pick them up." They waited a few moments, then Margulis began to move.

"Lets get back to work."

—

" _When did you grow a backbone?" Margulis was angry. "Here I thought you were a completely docile dog."_

 _The subject was laying by his feet, almost completely motionless minus the rising and falling of his ragged breathing._

" _You realized you just killed one of our top doctors?" Margulis glared down. "You thought you had it bad with him. Just wait until I'm finished with you."_

 _The subject stiffened slightly at his words, and turned his face._ _"I never meant…to hurt anyone."_

" _Oh? Don't tell me you just…happened to lash out? You expect me to believe anything from one of Helmer's Dogs?" Margulis had a strong desire to kick him again, but withheld. "If you thought you would get freedom, consider those dreams gone. You are ours now."_


	13. Chapter 12

"Margulis, over here!" chaos shouted as he peaked his head out of a pile of wreckage. Margulis stood up straight, throwing off the debris he was moving to get inside the larger hull. He walked over to where chaos had found a way in. They had gone back to the debris of the main ship. Chaos had found a large break in one of the capacitors, and they needed to find a replacement. The other emergency ships they had been through they met with little success, so their only alternative was to hopefully find a spare on the large ship. Chaos had managed to slip into a room of the ship they were not able to explore before, as it was only a supply room.

Margulis fell through the hole chaos had found, and ducked his head to get inside the room. Turning on his light, he looked around, seeing a lot of supplies thrown about, but a lot of the important things still on the shelves and in the cabinets looked like they were intact. Chaos was over by the medical section of the supply room, rummaging through things. Margulis went over to where he assumed the capacitors and possible extra parts they may need. He found the drawer he needed, put in the security code, and slid open the drawer. To his satisfaction, everything looked in prime condition. He grabbed what he needed and put them in the case he had brought with him. He turned his head as he heard a cabinet open up, and saw chaos searching for something, and grabbed a handful of containers.

"What are you taking?" Margulis asked as he continued putting things in his case.

"I'm grabbing a few more medical supplies. We used most of ours because of my injuries." Chaos answered as he laid out a medical case, and was putting things within it. Margulis noticed he was indeed grabbing a lot of the supplies they had used. He hadn't realized chaos had been keeping tabs on it all. He returned to his own work. Once he had finished, he turned and saw chaos put something in one of his pockets.

"What did you take?" Margulis barked and walked over quickly. Chaos turned to face him, and went into a defensive pose. Margulis stopped a few paces away, his hand instinctively going to the hilt of his sword. Chaos' face wasn't giving away his emotion, but then he seemed to snap out of it, and looked surprised by his own actions. He lowered his guard, and reached into his pocket, and pulled out two small, clear containers; both contained what looked to be a pill. Margulis looked at them a moment, and then realized what they were. They were the suicide pills. Margulis slowly took his hand off the hilt of his sword, not quite sure what to say. If chaos wanted to use them if he was to be captured, that was his choice. Chaos put the capsules back into his pocket, and turned to close the medical kit.

"Hmph." Margulis turned and grabbed his case and slammed it closed, and started to walk out, ducking out of the room, and climbed back out of the wreckage. He stood out looking at the woods in the distance. He couldn't wait to get off this planet. He heard chaos climbing out behind him, sighing slightly. He knew chaos wanted to apologies, but he didn't want to hear it, nor did he feel it was necessary. Chaos had too kind of a heart, but some things were just necessary to do. If his dreams were any indication of what chaos would have to endure, it may be best if he didn't live to see it.

He heard a sliding metal noise, and at this point, knew exactly what that was. He looked up and saw a large piece of the ship falling off the side of the mountain. He wasn't sure how he and chaos were going to dodge it. Chaos stood up and summoned a very large and powerful barrier around the piece of the ship that was falling. It looked like it was falling in slow motion, but he noticed chaos was struggling to keep it up, or move it away from falling on top of them.

"Margulis, slice it in the center!" chaos said in a very strained voice. Margulis, after a moment, realized exactly what chaos was talking about. He smiled as he drew his sword. Taking a moment to center his ether, he summoned a large amount of ether energy into his sword, and prepared his attack. Once chaos had lowered the debris a little more, Margulis forced a large amount of ether underneath him and projected himself up into the air. Aiming his sword downward, he found the spot he wanted to hit, and gave a large burst of fire ether, out of his sword and downward. He again used his energy to force himself down into the debris, and positioning his sword infront of him, cut the debris cleanly in two. He saw chaos' hold on the now two pieces falter, and they fell away from him. He had positioned himself for a hard landing on the debris, but he found himself surrounded by a light yellow aura, and he began floating down, and landed fairly gently.

Once on the ground, he looked at the large piece of debris next to him. He recognized it as a part of the ship he had explored on the first day they were on this planet. He heard chaos run up behind him.

"Are you alright?" chaos asked as he came within earshot. He seemed to be panting slightly, but overall looked fine. He had the foresight to grab both of their cases.

"Fine." Margulis sheathed his sword, and looked over at chaos. "Your powers are quite impressive. Such a shame you wish to stick with the Federation."

"Thank you." Chaos smiled at that. "We should probably head back before anything else falls. I'm sure since that piece fell, there will be quite a few others."

"Agreed." As he said that, they heard another piece begin to fall, a little off in the distance. They started their trek back to their ship, Margulis taking his case from chaos. Margulis finally remembering about their confrontation only a few minutes prior seemed like it had taken place a long while ago. One moment chaos was an enemy, the next an ally. He wished more and more chaos was not an enemy. He knew though, that was a fatal way of thinking.


	14. Chapter 13

" _Sir, we have him cornered down in section 23D 3rd block." Someone over the intercom commented._

" _Very well. Keep him there. I will be down there shortly." Margulis said nonchalantly as he closed his book and placed it on the table. He was waiting for his men to catch the subject. He had become very disruptive over the past couple weeks. Margulis had decided earlier that day he was too much of a bother to keep around. The subject must have sensed something, as he had attempted an escape. The soldiers on board had done their job properly, and they had cornered him down in a hanger block._

 _Margulis sighed as he picked up his sword and tied it to his hip. He really wanted to experiment more on the subject, as he had shown much promise in syncing with the Vessels of Anima, and most likely to the Zohar once they had their hands on it. He had decided to have him transferred to medical facility where the doctors and scientists would be able to test him to their hearts content. Margulis was only disappointed he wouldn_ _'t be there to see the results._

 _He went down to the block where the subject had been cornered, and he found a group of soldiers guarding the door the subject was located. They saluted him as he walked into the block. He looked around, and noticed the subject near the back of the block, looking like he was trying to get a ventilation shaft open, but was failing._

" _I wouldn't do that." Margulis said coldly as he came within earshot. The subject stiffened and turned to look at him. He looked tired, but there was fierce determination in his eyes. Margulis liked that look he was giving him, and knew he was about to have a little fun._

" _I will just assume you won't come willingly." Margulis stood there, his hand on his hilt. "Shall we begin?"_

 _The subject stared at him a few moments, and then summoned an ice bolt aimed at Margulis. Margulis drew his sword and blocked the bolt, countering with his own shot of fire. The subject rolled away easily and stood to fight. He had no weapon, but Margulis knew that wasn_ _'t a problem for him. The subject was able to dodge his sword attacks once he came into range, side stepping him when he could. Margulis thought he got an opening, but the subject raised his hand and summoned a large blast of aura ether and blasted the sword backwards. Margulis had to take a step back to reposition himself, the subject taking advantage of this, and stepped forward and sent another large blast of aura ether into Margulis' abdomen._

 _Margulis was blown a few feet backwards, but he did not lose his footing. He dug his sword into the floor to steady himself, and used it as a leverage to kick the subject as he tried to come in for another hit. The subject was surprised and jumped backwards avoiding the kick. Margulis brought his sword up and back into an offensive position. He summoned a large amount of fire ether into his sword, and sent out a very large frontal assault, slicing every which way. The subject guarded with an aura shield, but it wasn_ _'t enough. After the third hit, the shield broke, and Margulis went in and was able to slice into the subject's outstretched hand._

 _The subject recoiled in pain as he brought his arm to his chest. Margulis knew he had this won. He brought the sword up again and went for the other arm, getting a deep gash up the the target_ _'s inner arm, and getting a slight nick in his upper shoulder. Pivoting his foot, he brought his sword in like a fencer, and thrust forward, piecing the subject's abdomen. He heard the subject gasp in pain, and then began collapsing on the sword. Margulis didn't want that, and he promptly kicked the subject backwards off the sword._

 _The subject landed unceremoniously on the floor, curling up on his side, holding his arm to his chest, and the other covering the wound in his stomach. He noticed the subject had begun to summon a healing ether around him._

" _Don't you dare." Margulis growled and kicked the subject in the head, making his head snap backwards, rendering him unconscious. At that moment, a large smile appeared across his face. He was delighted with what he had just done. This fight was his._

"Margulis…Margulis!" he heard his name being called, and his arm being moved. "Margulis, are you alright?" He woke with a start. The face he had just kicked was now staring down at him in concern.

"What?" Margulis managed to say, trying to get his thoughts together. His stomach sunk as he realized he had been having another dream about chaos. He sat up and looked around. He felt increasingly sick each time he woke up from one of these dreams.

"What is the problem?" Margulis asked. They were in their sleeping quarters, nothing looked out of place.

"You sounded like you were in distress." Chaos answered quietly.

"It's nothing you should be concerned about." Margulis answered in a scornful tone. He hadn't told chaos about the dreams he had been experiencing. Mostly because he didn't know how chaos would react, but also because he didn't think it was appropriate to admit something like that to an enemy.

"You've been having a lot of nightmares lately." Chaos continued in a quiet voice. "I think I already know what you will say, but maybe you should consider taking some medication. A good rest will make you feel a lot better."

"You _should_ already know that answer. I will be fine." Margulis said in an angry tone, but then sighed a moment later. "It's too late for this. I'm going back to sleep."

"Alright. Good night." Chaos said as he got back up and went to his own bed. He plopped down, pulled the blankets up, and after a few moments, seemed to have already gone back to sleep. Margulis was quite jealous of chaos' ability to just…sleep whenever he felt like.

Margulis lay back down himself, and sighed again, rubbing his hand over his face. His stomach had not settled, and he felt sick. These dreams were too real for him to push them aside so easily. The feelings he had in his dreams did not relate to how he felt in waking, and it concerned him. He had no reason to feel such strong hatred for chaos in waking, so he did not know why the dreams made it so. The more he thought about it, the more he knew he didn't wish to hurt chaos like what his dreams made him do. At the same time, he knew chaos was more than willing to end it all before Margulis would have the chance to do anything like the dreams showed. He wished there could be some sort of middle-ground they could find. He rolled on his side. If there was a middle-ground, he couldn't think of it currently.


	15. Chapter 14

The rest of the repairs went well without much of a hiccup. They had settled into a routine, work all day, debate religious scriptures about an hour before heading to bed, rinse and repeat. They felt they were within a day or two of finishing everything. They had been down there for about two months now, and nothing had responded to the emergency beacon they had sent out. They had been working out of the control room for the past couple days, running tests and making sure everything was ready to go. The last thing that needed to be done was to make sure they had enough extra fuel to be able to lift off from the planet, and then get to the nearest outpost. They had agreed if they did not find any U-TIC or Federation ships, they would go to a neutral outpost. The one they decided on wasn't the closest they could go to, but it was a good middle-ground. They figured after a good night's rest, they would leave just before sun-up. That way they could still see the stars, as well as have enough natural light to see their surroundings out of the main window.

Margulis was helping chaos move extra fuel cells from the other ships. This would be the final things they would need, tie them down, and they would be set for takeoff. Chaos halted suddenly, Margulis turned to see what was the hold-up, as the fuel cell was quite heavy. He saw chaos was looking at the sky, and Margulis turned to see what he was looking at. His eyes went wide as he saw Gnosis, and a lot of them coming down towards the planet.

"We need to hurry!" chaos said as he began moving again, Margulis didn't argue, and they went to go drop off the cell into the engine room. It looked like they would have a solid ten minutes before the Gnosis would be on top of them. Margulis cursed to himself. They didn't have the appropriate weapons to be able to fend off Gnosis. It was the blight of all humanity. Once they got the fuel cell in the engine room, chaos stood up.

"I'll hold off the Gnosis. Get everything ready for launch." Chaos said as he started heading towards the door.

"Hold! How do you plan to fight the Gnosis?" Margulis asked.

"I can fight unphased Gnosis. Don't worry." Chaos smiled and left. Margulis had a sudden flash of one of his dreams about testing chaos' abilities. He frowned, he didn't want anything about those dreams to be true. He turned and continued fixing the cell to the main control panel. He locked it down, and headed out. He knew the Gnosis would be there about now. He saw chaos standing on top of the ship, a Gnosis had landed next to him, swinging a large claw at him. Chaos raised his hand, and to Margulis' amazement, the Gnosis froze. Chaos reached out and touched it, and it slowly started disappearing. Another Gnosis landed behind him, and chaos was able to do the same thing. Margulis was momentarily speechless, never seeing anything like this before. Who…or more so, what was chaos?

"Don't worry, I got this." Chaos noticed Margulis was down there. "I think we should take off as soon as we can."

"Understood." Margulis snapped back to reality. He wanted to say something else, but not sure what else to say, went back inside and into the main cabin. He turned on all the panels, and began the start-up procedure. Everything was working well, and it would only take a few minutes before the engines would be all fired up and ready for launch. He turned on the external camera and saw chaos was still fending off the Gnosis from getting into the ship. There was a lull in their wave, and chaos seemed to be centering himself, almost in prayer with his head bent and his hands folded in-front of him. He saw chaos begin glowing a blue color, and large waves of energy started emanating from chaos. Margulis was instantly reminded of the Vessel of Anima test dreams he had experienced. The color and waves looked exactly the same. He noticed the Gnosis began disappearing as soon as the waves began to hit them. This cleared the sky above and around them. Looking at his long-distance scanners, he noticed the Gnosis that were heading in their direction were starting to avoid the waves chaos was emanating. This would give them a path to take off and escape the planet.

"Get inside." Margulis said over an external speaker. The engines were fired up, and it was time to launch. The glow around chaos began fading, and he slowly sunk down. Margulis wondered if he would need to go and drag him inside, but after a moment, chaos stood back up and jumped off the top of the ship. Margulis then heard chaos enter the outside door as it began to close, chaos finally heading into the cockpit.

"Check the engine output and keep the external hull in check. You managed to create a part in the Gnosis waves. We will take that path. It is a steeper ascent than what we planned." Margulis ordered systematically. This was something he was very used to doing.

"Understood." Chaos answered, strapping himself into his chair and bringing up the engine status as well as a scanner that was tuned to sense the Gnosis. He brought up quite a few other systems and was focused on his jobs. Margulis had taken the main controls, and the ship began to lift into the air, and off the planet.


	16. Chapter 15

They had made it out of the line of the incoming Gnosis and started on their way towards the first outpost. They had used up more fuel in their ascent than they had planned so they would only be able to reach the first outpost. They had started scanning for ships, giving off a generic SOS signal, to see if there was anyone out there. For the first couple hours, they had been busy calculating their fuel reserves, checking their systems, and overall getting used to space travel again. They were finally getting settled, chaos stretching in his seat, before unbuckling and getting up.

"I'm going to check on the state in the engine room." Chaos said before heading out. Margulis didn't say anything, but gave out a sigh once chaos was out of the cabin. Things had happened very quickly, and he was appreciative for the moment of reprieve. He was continuing to pilot the ship and check the sensors for any readouts of other possible ships in the area. He couldn't help himself but let his mind wander. What would happen if they did happen upon another ship? His thoughts immediately went to what chaos would do if they met with U-TIC or the Immigrant Fleet. He had never discussed it fully with him, but now he wished he had the opportunity. Would he try to kill himself immediately? Would he wait for some kind of signal? Margulis was unclear of when or if chaos was planning on using the pills.

Setting the ship on auto-pilot, he got up from his chair. He knew as a good Miltian soldier, chaos wouldn't hesitate. He went out into the hall where a larger medkit and supplies were kept. Opening up the container, he found what he was looking for. Not even pondering, he took at the vial and put it into an injector, and put the medkit away. Putting the injector in his robe pocket, he then returned back to the main controls.

It took a good thirty minutes before chaos returned. When he did though, he looked slightly out of breath.

"What were you doing?" Margulis inquired as chaos took his seat in the copilots chair.

"Two of the fuel cells were loose." Chaos said as he took a deep breath and exhaled. "They're all secure now, everything checked out."

"Hmph, good." Margulis turned back to his screens. "No signs of other ships as of now. We're still on course for Peuron."

They worked in silence for another good long spell. Chaos seemed quite comfortable in the silence so Margulis didn't say a thing. To his surprise though, it was chaos who broke it.

"Do you know where you will head once you reach Peuron?" chaos asked as he brought up some charts of the colony. "It's mainly a port for material barges and small transport vessels."

"Once we land I plan to get in contact with my fleet. I will stay with the ship. I suggest you find alternate methods of transport." Margulis said.

"Haha, of course. I didn't think I'd be able to keep the ship." Chaos laughed slightly, "I don't think I'll have issues bartering passage. I am a hired hand currently, so I'm sure there may be a ship that could use my services."

"Hmph, yet you wouldn't take an opportunity to work for me." Margulis sneered over. "I'm insulted."

"Well, there were 1.5 billion people from Ariadne that make me think otherwise." Chaos said almost in a whisper.

"Point taken." Margulis' sneer disappeared quickly and turned to a stern look. He hadn't expected chaos to know about the Ariadne incident had been caused by his doing. Then again, he wasn't all too surprised either. If he was working for the Kukai Foundation, then anything to do with the Zohar Emulators would be under their jurisdiction. Chaos had revealed he knew more than he should, which was a bad part on his move. It just meant if captured, he could be interrogated for it.

They sat there in silence before they began making idle chit-chat again. Margulis was checking the scans when a ship's signature appeared on his screen. Not to cause alarm, he began checking it, but in movements not to draw chaos' attention. It only took him a few seconds to realize it was one of his ships. Not only that, but the signature of other ships began to start coming into view. It was his main fleet. A chill froze him a moment, but he quickly returned to his normal composure. He looked over at chaos' side of the cabin.

"Can you give me the readouts of the fuel capacitors?" Margulis asked for the farthest panel away from him. Chaos turned his head away from Margulis to give him the readouts. As chaos began checking the numbers, Margulis had reached into his robes and pulled out the injector, and silently reached over to the back of chaos' neck. Chaos noticed, but reacted too slowly, as Margulis suddenly placed the injector on the exposed skin and injected it into chaos. Chaos immediately brought his hand up to where he had been injected, and started to look over at Margulis. Chaos never got the chance to realize what had happened, as his whole body slumped forward, only his constraints holding him upright.

Margulis sighed as he began sending out signals to the Immigrant Fleet's direction and changed the course heading to meet them. He then set the auto-pilot, as he got out of his chair, and unbuckled chaos. He lifted chaos up and out, and carried him out of the cabin. He went to the jail cell on the ship. Though it was called a jail cell, it was more of a body shoot, only one person could fit laying down. Margulis opened it with a voice command, and set chaos in it. He knew he had to get to work.

The sedative he had given to chaos should work for another few hours, but he would have to get to the controls soon. He knew the fleet would start contacting him soon for information on who he was and why he was there. Going through chaos' pockets, he removed everything from then, as well as chaos' gloves. He was glad chaos had not had time to put on his usual vest, as he would most likely have to take that off of him, as he knew it had many secret pockets in it. Through searching though, he had not found the two things he hoped he would find. Giving an angry sigh, he decided he would have to check thoroughly.

Opening chaos' mouth, he used the a light he had found in chaos' pocket to get a better look inside his mouth. Sure enough, Margulis saw one of the capsules located securely behind the back-right tooth in chaos' upper jaw. It took a little effort, but he was able to pop it out without cracking the capsule. Checking the other side, he almost missed it, but chaos had another indenture in his gum-line where he had inserted the other capsule. This indenture must have been surgically implanted just for this. This one was a lot harder to remove, and took a few minutes to get it to pop out with cracking. Just as he got it to pop out, he noticed chaos' head began to move slightly, as well as his arms. Margulis moved as fast as he could, but he saw chaos' jaw immediately began to close as he started to come to. He got his left-hand out with the capsule fine, but chaos managed to bite down on his right index finger. Margulis let out an angry growl, as he shook his hand around, and was able to get chaos' jaw to loosen enough for him to get his finger out.

He placed the security bar over chaos, not allowing him to move. Chaos was still coming to, his eyes finally opening, and stared up at Margulis confused. It took chaos a moment, but he then seemed to realize what was happening, a look of panic came over his face as he lifted his hands to stop the closing lid on the cell. He didn't have the strength to keep the lid from closing, and it went right over him.

"Margulis, stop! Don't—" chaos was cut off as the lid securely locked and his voice was now muffled. Margulis knew the space was too confined for chaos to use any of his ether unless he seriously hurt himself in the process. Margulis pressed a few buttons on the control panel, made sure it was secure, and then walked back to the cabin, suicide capsules in-hand. His index finger ached, and he took off his glove. Sure enough, blood was coming out of the bite that chaos had given him. It wasn't a lot, but enough to be annoying.

"That sedative should have lasted another few hours. He's quick to recuperate." Margulis thought, grabbing a small medkit, he was able to quickly wrap it his finger in tape. His stomach began to sink as he recalled the look chaos had given him a moment before the lid had closed. It was the look of someone betrayed, and Margulis couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed by this.

"Chaos should have known what was at stake. He was a trained soldier, an old one too." He pushed down the doubts he was beginning to feel, and went back to the main control room. Sure enough, by the time he sat back down in the pilot's seat, the other ships were trying to contact him. He took a deep breath, and opened a channel.

"This is Chief Inquisitor Margulis. Put me in contact with Pellegri."


	17. Chapter 15 (chaos' POV)

Hey'o everyone~ I decided to write it in chaos' POV because I love this scene a lot. ^^ Please enjoy 3

* * *

Chaos had made sure all the controls were working and all the readouts were displaying as they should. He was impressed by how much work Margulis did to get the ship's readouts all showing correctly. He himself never had a chance to look at any of the work Margulis had done, as he had been mainly cooped up repairing the engines. To his disappointment though, there were some errors appearing with the readings from the Engines.

"I'm going to check on the state in the engine room." Chaos said as he unbuckled and stood up. Margulis grunted in acknowledgment as he left the room. Chaos stretched his arms a little more as he walked to the engine room. He hadn't fought in over two months, and he was realizing how out of shape and practice he was. Just fighting those Gnosis was a little harder than he expected. He knew that was no good. He'd have to pick up a routine again once he returned to the Kukai Foundation. Perhaps get some special military training again, just to get up to speed quicker.

Once he got to the engine room, he went to the main console and pulled up the status of everything. He gave a slightly annoyed look as he saw some of the extra fuel capacitors they brought on board had become loose. He double-checked the readouts and went about to setting them back in-place. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his light, but also felt other objects bouncing around. Curious, he pulled those out as well.

"Oh that's right." Chaos looked at the two suicide capsules in his hand. He had forgotten about them. His expression went serious as he rolled them in his hand. He would need to put them in now. They could happen upon the Immigrant Fleet at any time.

"We will reach them soon." Nephilim appeared behind chaos. Chaos gripped the suicide pills, hiding them from her view.

"I know." Chaos said as he put the capsules back in his pocket.

"What will you do?" Nephilim asked. Chaos paused a moment, but reached up with his light to get a better look at a loose valve, he began tightening it. Nephilim closed her eyes and faded away.

Once chaos had moved a few of the containers, he was quite out of breath. They were heavy for a one-man job, but he was able to manage. Making sure the readings were correct on the main console, he turned off the screen and headed out.

Taking a quick detour into the living quarters, he noticed a lot of the blankets and miscellaneous things they had on the tables had fallen to the floor during lift off. Chaos turned his attention to the mirror on the wall though. Taking out the suicide pills, he opened his mouth to take a look. He was easily able to slip one of them into the indenture he had implanted when he had joined the Special Forces. This one was supposed to be hard to find, and doctors and enemy soldiers seldom looked for it. He then placed the other in a more obvious place, where he would have quick access, and also would be easy to find to prying eyes. The capsule was designed to stick to the back of his teeth once the chemical reaction on the sealant began touching saliva. Testing it slightly, he could easily knock it out with his tongue if need be.

He winked at himself in the mirror before heading back to the control room. Margulis was seated where he had left him, and turned his head slightly and watched him as he sat back down.

"What were you doing?" Margulis inquired as he sat down in his chair, buckling himself back in.

"Two of the fuel cells were loose." Chaos said as he took a deep breath and exhaled. "They're all secure now, everything checked out."

"Hmph, good." Margulis turned back to his screens. "No signs of other ships as of now. We're still on course for Peuron."

Chaos nodded as he brought up the new readouts and began making sure everything was correct. They worked in silence for a little while. He didn't mind the silence, but he could see Margulis looked a little stiff, perhaps even nervous, if that was possible. He smiled slightly, and decided to break the silence.

"Do you know where you will head once you reach Peuron?" chaos asked as he brought up some charts of the colony. "It's mainly a port for material barges and small transport vessels." Chaos already knew how to barter passage off, as he had done it many times in the past.

"Once we land I plan to get in contact with my fleet. I will stay with the ship. I suggest you find alternate methods of transport." Margulis in his usual matter-of-fact tone. His features relaxed slightly, chaos taking this as a good sign.

"Haha, of course. I didn't think I'd be able to keep the ship." Chaos laughed slightly, "I don't think I'll have issues bartering passage. I am a hired hand currently, so I'm sure there may be a ship that could use my services."

"Hmph, yet you wouldn't take an opportunity to work for me." Margulis sneered over. "I'm insulted."

"Well, there were 1.5 billion people from Ariadne that make me think otherwise." Chaos said almost in a whisper. He didn't want to anger Margulis, as he had rejected his offer to join him a few times before, but now he felt he needed to give him a more solid answer. Especially for what was about to take place.

"Point taken." Margulis' sneer fell into scowl as he turned his attention back to his controls. Chaos flinched inwardly, knowing Margulis had definitely taken offense to it. At least that would end Margulis trying to recruit him. He never wanted to go back to Ormus…

They sat in silence for a little while longer before they began talking again. This time about Gnosis and the general state of discontent with them. Margulis hadn't brought up the point that he could make Gnosis disappear on touch. Chaos was a little relieved to that, not exactly knowing a good way to fend off his questions to that.

"Can you give me the readouts of the fuel capacitors?" Margulis asked. Chaos turned to give him the readings, and as he double-checked the data, he could hear Margulis shift in his chair. He could feel something close to him, and he tried to turn to see what was happening. He felt a prick in his neck and something cold enter his system. He stiffened and turned immediately but…

—

He felt groggy and couldn't move well. But more importantly, his jaw was open at a very uncomfortable angle. He felt something pop out, and he started to panic.

"Is something pulling out my teeth?!" Was the first thought that chaos' mind registered as he immediately clamped his jaw shut. He heard a growl above him as his teeth bit into a material, and something hard underneath it. He felt the cloth began to shake, and chaos realized it was fingers. The fingers jolted his head to the side and he lost grip as the fingers slipped all the way out. He was finally able to tilt his head forward and see what was going on. He saw a metal bar cross his vision at it lay ontop of him, preventing him from moving much. He saw Margulis' arm bring it down, not quite sure what was happening. He saw Margulis' right hand, and it was holding the suicide pills. Chaos' eyes widened.

Margulis had removed them.

"Margulis, stop! Don't do this!" chaos said as he tried to lift his hands to stop the lid of the cell he from closing on him. It was no use though. The lid had closed and snapped as the lock engaged. He was panicking. He could feel his heart pounding out of his chest. He didn't know what had happened, but he knew Margulis must have found his fleet. He tried to use his aura magic, but found the lock was too strong. He didn't have the room to cast a spell in there. His tongue explored his mouth, and both capsules had been removed.

He didn't know what to do. Though…he should have known. Margulis had never mentioned the suicide pills, and assumed he was alright with that decision. He had hoped the pills themselves would deter Margulis from trying something like this. But if Margulis was capable of killing 1.5billion people, then betraying him to capture and imprison was nothing to him. Chaos still couldn't help but feel betrayed as he let himself relax as his head rested on the metal floor below. He closed his eyes as he could still feel the effects of the sedative, making his movements slow and his mind groggy. He couldn't do anything right now. All he could do, was wait.


	18. Chapter 16

Margulis focused at the tasks at hand. Piloting the ship into the port of the mother ship of the Immigrant Fleet. He couldn't help but feel more relaxed as the familiar ships of his fleet passed by. He had made contact with Pellegri, and she had made the arrangements for him to land on the main ship. Once he landed, he saw a group of soldiers come to meet him, as well as Pellegri. Once he landed and opened the door, the soldiers saluted him, as well as Pellegri. Margulis noticed she looked a little skinnier than he had last seen her. She looked relieved though. She was the first to walk up to him, with the first mate of the ship following a polite distance behind.

"Welcome back, Chief Inquisitor Margulis." Pellegri said, not being able to hide her relief. Margulis nodded at her, but giving her a small grin. He hadn't realized how long he had been gone until then.

"I will need to be prepped on everything that has happened in my absence. Send the information to my private quarters." Margulis ordered.

"Of course sir, I have already compiled what you will need." Pellegri handed him a computer. He looked at it surprised.

"You were expecting me?" Margulis asked.

"Yes, Patriarch Heinlein had sent us a message to hold our fleet here for your return." Pellegri explained. Margulis was now indeed surprised. He hadn't realized his Master would know he was still alive. He knew Heinlein was truly blessed by god. Margulis nodded his head, and then remembered he was still not done, as a few officers began making their way inside the ship.

"There is a prisoner in the cell." He ordered to the soldiers closest to him. "Bring him out."

"There was someone with you?" Now it was Pellegri's turn to be surprised. "Who is it?"

"One of Helmer's Dogs." Margulis answered, but didn't elaborate. He opened the computer Pellegri had handed him, and began walking slowly away as he started going through one of the reports. He had almost made it to the exit as he heard a commotion behind him, and he turned around. The soldiers had brought chaos out of the ship. One soldier on each arm as they escorted him out. Chaos looked around slightly as he exited the ship, his expression was unreadable. Eventually he turned his attention to the floor as the soldiers escorted him over to exit where Margulis was standing. Chaos didn't look up as they came over, but continued to stare away.

"Sir, what are you orders regarding the prisoner?" The first mate of the ship asked as he followed behind.

"…" Margulis hesitated a moment, opening his mouth to say something, but quickly closed it. He had a sudden flashback to one of his dreams, and his stomach began knotting.

"…the normal check-in routine should be fine. Have the doctors do an extra test on his blood regarding the usual sedatives in medkits." Margulis paused again, and then added, "He will need a higher-grade ether restrictor. Be sure that is arranged. Once he is fit, take him to block E23. Make sure a room is fitted appropriately for prisoner use. Have an A-level guard positioned outside at all times."

"Yes sir." The first mate saluted and began ordering the soldiers to the medical block. Chaos was marched out of the room and out of sight. Margulis and Pellegri began walking in the opposite direction, heading towards Margulis' quarters.

"E23 is a nice passenger cabin block." Pellegri commented once they were alone in an elevator.

"I'm aware." Margulis commented. He didn't want to go into the sudden decision.

"Is there something that happened?" Pellegri asked, looking a little surprised.

"I owe him a debt." Margulis said after a slight wait. "I will file a full report."

"Understood." Pellegri nodded politely as the walked to his quarters. "I will take my leave then."

"Come back in 8 hours. I wish to go over these reports." Margulis said as he walked into his old quarters, the door sliding closed behind him. The room felt extremely large and barren. Now alone again, he had given himself 8 hours to clean, rest, and prepare for the work that was to come. It was hard to imagine that only 5 hours prior he was down on a deserted planet, not knowing where he would be, but here he was, standing in his own room. Now he was the Chief Inquisitor once again.


	19. Chapter 17

Margulis didn't have a chance to get his 8 hours. Once he had taken a shower and changed into his official robes, he got a call from the intercom from the head of prison sector. There was a problem with fitting chaos with an ether restrictor and they were unsure of what to do, and needed an official ruling. Margulis didn't expect to be called out that quickly, but he begrudgingly went. When he entered the hospital room down in the prisoner cell, chaos was sitting on the side of the bed, laughing with the doctor and assistance next to him. Margulis was confused a moment, this scene being nothing like what he had seen in his dreams. He relaxed slightly. Perhaps he could finally put those nightmares behind him.

"What is the problem?" Margulis asked as he walked over. The doctor turned his attention to him and everyone in the room turned and saluted.

"Sir. Thank you for coming." The doctor said, grabbing the ether restrictor next to him. "We are having difficulty fitting. We got the orders he would need a higher level restrictor, but what is needed is ridiculously absurd."

"Let me guess." Margulis recalling from a dream with some of the readouts of chaos' conditions. "His resting output is over 100 jules."

"Y-yes sir." The doctor looked up shocked. Chaos even gave him a surprised look. They had never discussed it before. Margulis was recalling what they had done in his dreams.

"Set the restrictor 3 jules above resting. That will prevent him from casting any fatal spells at least." Margulis answered. Margulis looked over at chaos, chaos had tilted his head in confusion, still debating how Margulis had that information, but chaos slowly nodded his head, that seemed to sound fine to him.

"Have you done the testing on the sedative?" Margulis turned his attention back to the doctor.

"We have done the test but have yet to study the results." The doctor answered.

"I could probably answer that." Chaos finally spoke. Margulis looked up at him, waiting for him to continue. "I had procedures done when I was in the Special Forces that made me as immune to many different forms of sedatives and poisons as possible."

"You wouldn't happen to have those immunities in the public domain, would you?" The doctor asked.

"I do have some. I am now in the private sector, I had a lot of my medical files transferred to public records, just in case I needed to be treated elsewhere. I do travel a bit."

"Excellent. Go retrieve them." The doctor looked at one of his assistance, who then left to the nearest computer. The doctor had adjusted the ether restrictor, placing it around chaos' neck. It beeped as it began sensing chaos' output, just about 105 jules. The doctor then set it to 108, and the ether restrictor beeped again, and locked into place. Chaos didn't say or react to it, which was a good sign it wasn't hurting him. The doctor then placed the ether restrictor hand unit's around chaos' wrists, them beeping and locking into place. Chaos lifted his hands and observed them a little. There was a little play, but it was a good fit.

"I guess I won't be healing for a while." Chaos commented as he dropped his arms.

"I would not if I were in your position." Margulis' voice went firm. "We will tighten the restrictors if you give us cause."

"I understand." Chaos nodded. "I'll be careful."

"Good." Margulis turned away. "If there is nothing else, I will take my leave."

—

5 hours into is supposed 8 hours of rest, the prison doctor and the head scientist from the Zohar research team came to visit him. Margulis stood at his desk as the two men came in to speak with him

"Let me guess, it's about chaos." Margulis started.

"Yes sir. Thank you for meeting with us. The tests we did have produced some peculiar results. We would like to get your permission to run a few more tests." The doctor started, handing Margulis a chip with the results. Margulis then inputed the chip into his computer and opened them up, displaying them so all of them could see. The relief Margulis had felt earlier had gone away, and the pool of unrest he felt at the pit of his stomach returned. These results looked very familiar and brought about more flashbacks. The scientist was about to start speaking, but Margulis put his hand up, silencing him.

"His blood is that of the children of the Zohar, at about 28.5jb he is 50x purer than any known priest or person within Ormus." Margulis not even looking at the results anymore, but straight at the scientist. "You want to test his reaction readouts with our last Zohar Emulator, as well as tests with the Vessels of Anima."

"Sir…how did you-" The scientist was cut-off when Margulis raised his hand again. He turned his attention to the doctor.

"You have noted he is a super mutant, with his DNA over 1.0% difference in average human structure. Because he is not covered by the Immigrant-Federation Humane Treaty, you wish to undergo tests that would otherwise not be covered under this treaty."

"Sir." The doctor looked stunned. "With his recuperative abilities, as well as his strong bloodline, we could find medicines and cures that have been plaguing the children of the Zohar since time immemorial."

"Denied." Margulis answered bluntly. "We will keep him under surveillance for now. In the meantime, I want him treated as if he is under the Immigrant-Federation Humane Treaty."

"But sir, what about—"

"I will speak with His Grace about this. He is a unique, but until that time there will be no unnecessary tests." Margulis turned off the computer, obviously not needing to look at the data there.

"Sir, what about preliminary tests that would be considered—" The scientist started, but quickly flinched away as Margulis glared at him.

"Are you questioning my orders?" Margulis asked in a very low, dangerous tone. "Doctor, you may draw blood and do what you can that is allowed under the treaty, but do not touch him otherwise. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir!" Both of them saluted. They both took their leave rather quickly, and Margulis finally sitting down in his chair. He sighed as more flashbacks of chaos covered in tubes came to mind.

"I will need to consult His Grace soon." Margulis muttered to himself. "He will know what must be done."

Oops! I just realized I didn't finish posting the full thing here! Here is the next part. I'm torn if I want to post the final chapter, since it leads very much into my own head-canon. But if I leave it off here, you guys can interpret for yourselves what happens next. hmmm...let me know what you think, if you'd like the next part.  
Thank you to anyone and everyone who has made it this far! 33


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